Day-End Dough-Nation ® When Panera Bread ® locations close for the night, the unsold bread and baked goods that remain on their shelves start a second shift— feeding the hungry. Five minutes before closing time at the Panera Bread bakery-cafe in Pensacola, Florida, manager Udo Freyhofer sees the bakery cases are still brimming with enticements: Cinnamon Crunch Bagels, oat-flecked loaves of Whole Grain Bread, moist squares of Double Fudge Brownies. But they’re not doomed to languish overnight or, worse, be tossed out: as soon as the doors close for the evening, Udo and his associates carefully package up the unsold baked goods and hand them over to a waiting volunteer from a local non-profit organization. These baked goods won’t make an encore appearance at the bakery-cafe tomorrow; instead, through Panera’s Day-End Dough-Nation ® program, they’ll go to our neighbors in need. Panera has always been committed to selling only freshly baked goods and only allows items to sit just a single day on the shelves. Rather than relegate unsold breads, bagels, muffins and pastries to a dumpster, employees’ box them up for local non-profit organizations. That could be a food rescue agency, food pantry, soup kitchen, homeless shelter, meals delivery program, senior center, school or religious organization. Non-profit organizations that receive the donations are feeding people who are ill, needy or underprivileged children in the community. Once a local soup kitchen, for instance, is approved to receive Day-End Dough-Nation ® FOCUS ON PANERA BREAD ®
© Maui Jim
baked goods, it sends a volunteer to Panera after closing time for a weekly pick up. The following day, the soup kitchen will serve the donated bread and pastries alongside the meals it gives its clients in need. Some large food distribution agencies pick up donations every night. Most groups, however, participate just once or twice a week. The Day-End Dough-Nation ® program makes Panera employees feel pretty special too. “Some other companies may sell their day-old products the next day at a discount. We don’t,” says Udo, “I feel good about having fresh items available for our customers while helping out those in need in our community.”
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FALL 2019
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